The Dwarves Of The Forest

[Geo 1415]

The Forest Dwarves!

"Brothers and Sisters O' t'e wilds hide no more, emerge from your overgrown bluffs and moss-wrought caverns, hop down from yer wee safe spots and vine-structured shelters! Make yer' ways to the knolls o' t'e forest trails for ye' need be hidin' no more! We be lookin' to regroup with our lost kin and return to t'e forests of Asulon to tend t'em in their time o' need! We be needin' yer fishin' poles, yer lumberjack's axe, yer woodworkin' and yer' green t'umbs tae' band taegether and fluster a glorious den oot on t'e forest floors! T'is long been since t'e great 'iding an' now it's time tae' rejoin yer kin and exploit yer traits, whether it be fishin', harvestin' or jus' defendin' t'e tribe; we need ye!"

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Who are we?

We're the Dwarves of the Forest, the lost kin to the 'mighty' warriors perched on the mountain tops and the mineral leeches deep within the depths of stone, a race almost forgotten about by its' ignorant cousins, almost... Forest Dwarves are the calmest and most passive sub race for being a dwarf and they are bombarded with stereotypes which discourage a player from playing them, but I'd bet there is a great deal about them that you do not know. Luckily I'll share that information with you.

Where do we live?

Forest Dwarves like to dwell in small tribes on the surface, usually in dense forests protected by tall, towering trees. Deep within the krauls and barrows are where we make our homes, made from any durable resources they can locate and carved out with excavational mastery these crude shelters offer great protection for them and are revered greatly. We have also been known to be located in trees of large posture and sometimes fungal groves that stretch up from the ground.

A Kraul is a location in the forest that has become extremely overgrown, complete with overflowing roots that reach high over your head to the thick vines and brambles curling around your ankle, a kraul has a large thick wall of roots around its' perimeter usually with a large circular area in the middle, an ideal spot to build a small village for a tribe.

A Barrow Den on the surface is nothing more than a small stone doorway but inside it is a massive underground cave complex consisting of small rooms and pools underground for the dwarves to live. These caves walls and floors are usually made from dirt and vines as they hate to be deep within the stone.

Groves consist of large trees and deep pockets within the forests that are accommodate to the dwarves, they can easily thrive and survive in this terrain that others may deem inhospitable. Making use of the boughs and the bluffs made naturally by the trees and flora there, the dwarves make home here.

Ancestors and Professions

Anbella – (an-bell-ah)

“Hearth Mother”

Symbol: Two Silver Rings

Alignment: Lawful Good

Portfolio: Safety, honesty, home, healing, marriage, fertility, family, records, oaths, fire

Anbella is the wife of Yemekar. Just as dwarven souls are forged on Yemekar’s soul forge, they are ever warmed and nurtured by the loving embrace of the Hearth Mother. Tend to hearth and home, drawing strength and safety from truth, tradition and the rule of law. Join with friends, kin and clan in common purpose. Do not succumb to the misery of greed or the evils of strife, but always bring hope, health and cheer to those in need. Once an oath is made, Anbella watches over its keeping – to break it is to wound her sorely. Children must be cherished and guarded well from harm, for they are the future of all dwarvenkind.

Dwarves that choose to go down the path of druidism, healing and farming often follow the teachings of Anbella and revel in her wisdom. Her pure nature sets good example for those children of the Hearthmother. These people will band together and sometimes worship the goddess in temples devoted to her under the symbol of the silver rings. Any oaths sworn to the tribes of the forests are always done in the Hearthmother's name. The peacekeepers and protectors of the tribe will proudly fall under the banner of both the silver rings and the brown paw as they are heavy on both ptoviding safety and survival.

Ursol - (Uhr-Sol)

"The Huntsman"

Symbol: Brown Paw

Allignment: Lawful Neutral

Portfolio: Agility, hunting, fishing, survival, caution, independence, camouflage, bears, wolves

Ursol is the huntsman, leader of the pack and the Dwarven god of the hunt. With unmatched dexterity and cunning he manages to remove the game of the forests, always being the victor and bringing food home for his scavenging brothers. With a valorous respect for animals the huntsman always challenges an animal rather than assassinating it unaware, always resulting in honourable combat between the two opponents. The Symbol of the brown paw is very spiritual in that the huntsmen were in good commune with the animals and often called on bears or wolves as companions to assist them in the hunt. Ursol is the father of the beast and the bearer of the bow.

Forest Dwarves that grip the fishing rod, those that hold survival top priority and the profound hunters of the tribe will often follow the teachings of Ursol. Survival is mandatory and being able to feed the rest of the tribe is very important, learning how to commune with the fauna of the forest and in turn take them down for their prized trophies is a valid faith for the Dwarves. Great with their bows and hunting knives the followers of Ursol hold the fire of the hunt and the pack dearly in their hearts. Big game hunters seen taking down colossal beasts always stand up bearing the symbol of the brown paw. The peacekeepers and protectors of the tribe will proudly fall under the banner of both the silver rings and the brown paw as they are heavy on both providing safety and survival.

What are we looking for?

We're a tribe and not just one person, this means we need a large variety of people and characteristics. We are a community. We need guards, priests and priestesses, hunters, fishermen, farmers, cooks, teachers, excavators and just general villagers. We need good roleplayers and although we respect that some players are new and unfamiliar with roleplay we do not respect trolls of any form as we take Forest Dwarves very seriously. For the time being there is no application of any kind but I don't want to see jokers and fools messing me around. We are also looking for builders and people with a knack for writing lore, don't hesitate to ask for my skype if you wish to request a place of importance among the tribe.

In the tribe there is not one leader but three and thus makes up a council. The Earthmother, the Father of the Hunt and the Keeper of the tribe. They come to counsel the changes of the tribe for better or for worse.

The Earthmother - She is the druidic leader, a devoted disciple of Anbella and is the wisdom of the tribe. She looks toward changes that will better the tribes spiritual state and always refers to the old gods when discussing things.

Father of the Hunt - He is the survivalist leader, a true hunter and master marksman and the cunning of the tribe. He looks toward changes that will better the survivability of the tribe and income of resources like food and lumber.

The Keeper - The keeper is the head enforcer of security, leading the militia he is the protection of the tribe. He looks toward changes that will better the security of the tribe and keep them out of harms way, sheltering them from war and conflict.

How to Roleplay a Forest Dwarf

How does one roleplay into this culture? Well first you're going to need to get yourself a skin. Forest Dwarves have brown earthy skin and golden and brown eyes. They are the smallest breed of dwarf and are usually just a little taller than halflings. Due to their healthy eating habits encouraged by the elders of the council they remain quite slim, making them rather agile. Forest dwarves usually have quite short beards and longer hair at the back. If the dwarf is going to fit into the militia catagory, their skin should be coated with chainmail, painted a dark oak colour, a helmet with great wooden horns and a thick redwood buckler. If they are going to fit into the survivalist category, suit them with rather olive looking leather chaps and hides, face paint to camouflage them, perhaps a quiver on their back and a feather headdress running along their foreheads. If they are the religious type and may well be spending their times worshipping the ancestors, have them with green robes, markings on their skin and long draping sleeves that hang down to the forest floor. If they are the general citizen, get some rather tattered clothing and make it look quite green and brown, big husky boots are a must for the harsh terrain of the forests.

How should I act? Forest Dwarves are a much calmer breed than their cousin aligned sub-races, they have a naturalistic view on things and like to flora and fauna with great respect, true forest dwarves are not thieves nor murderers and do not stray away from their elders teachings, those that do are usually outcast. We are reclusive but we are sociable, one should interact very frequently with those of his or her tribe but should be wary when speaking to outsiders. Forest Dwarves to not like outsiders entering their sanctuaries but have been known to accept the occasional halfling. Forest Dwarves are about freedom and freedom to roleplay how you want! So do not follow the guidelines 100% as that's not what I want, this isn't a stereotypical rule reigned race like most of the others, you are free to roleplay as detailed or as bluntly as you wish, using any characteristics that you want. The Dwarves of the Forest usually do like alcohol but the tribes usually brew it theirselves to create a herbal tinted drink, still offering the same high but with a little healthy reagent in there too. Forest Dwarves eat healthily and their food habits are usually directed and governed by the elders of the tribe. Forest Dwarves do not have a love for war like most races, they try to shelter themselves from it in the depths of the thicket but they would jump in defence of their own homes if it came to that. We dislike being underground with the exception of our barrows as they are constructed with dirt rather than stone, the idea of being underground scares us and usually makes us feel unsafe, we dislikes cave-dwellers and often shun their ways, calling them names like "Mountain Hoarders" or "Mineral Leeches". We do not like mining as it is fearful and dangerous, the idea of sucking minerals out of the earths beautiful crust is disgusting. Because of the shelter of their forests and the trees high above them the dwarves are accustomed to dimmed natural light, they do not like the brightness of the sun beaming down on them but they do not like the abyssal dark of the caverns.

How should I speak? Forest Dwarves have some of the simple accent used by the more common Dwarven race but their accent is not so heavy, apostrophes are less common as they speak more fluent and pure but that is not to say the accent is completely absent, you can still tell apart a Forest Dwarf from a human any day. You see some people who do sentences like this "W't ye' wan' ye' wee pest'rn bugg'r, g't b'ck tae t'e 'alfin lan's wi' ye' an' maybe t'ere ye' can boa't aboot yer' feats." Our accent will be less heavy than this, including less apostrophes and more full words to provide a much cleaner communication. Now onto names, First names are usually the same as Cave Dwarves and Mountain Dwarves; although the rough prefixes usually contain two syllables rather than one and rarely ever three. Names like Yorgrimm are more common than names like Otaf and Ustungar. Last names usually contain a quite natural themed adjective, for example my characters surname is Oakenmar suggesting something about the thick bark of oak trees. As for names, there are clans within the tribe, each clan usually will have a large station within a tribe's barrow or grove. Forest Dwarf clans usually have on leader, in most cases the male. The leader of the clan will tell the others what to do in terms of jobs, as everyone needs to work together to make things work but the final order will always come from the elders of the council.

(Still a work in progress if you have any questions of the revival efforts of the Forest Dwarves Pm me)

The Bramblespine tribe.

((These names are for OOC Use ONLY!))

The Elder Council

The Earthmother - High Shaman of the Tribe

Khyraela Oakenmar

The Huntfather - Master Tracker of the Tribe

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The Keeper - Stalwart Guardian of the Tribe

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The Oakenmar Clan

The Oakenmar Clan is a clan held together through spiritual origin, they have strong beliefs in the ways of the Hearthmother and care for the very trees around them that help support their sanctuary. They have no profession hinderments as members of this clan specialise in a wide variety of things although they seem to lack knowledge in stonework, mining and tempering metal. Members of this clan may find themselves taking an interest in healing or cultivation and worship in the temple of Anbella but you may find that some of the Oakenmars are fierce, cunning warriors.

Clan Leader

Clan Mother Khyraela Oakenmar

Clan Members

Trundir Oakenmar

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The Ragepaw Clan

The Ragepaw Clan is a band of keen-eyed trackers, expert survivalists and portrayed marksmanship mastery, the dexterity of the Ragepaws are unmatched throughout the thicket. Whilst a Ragepaw may be a glorious hunter taking out all of the game there is, they have also been known to be masters of camouflage and subtley, knowing how to move through the forest unseen as they track down their game. They follow the teachings of Ursol and would never dare kill a wolf or a bear unchallenged, their honour lies with the god of the hunt and so do their lives.

Clan Leader

Clan Father Kohrunn Ragepaw

Clan Members

Bolfar Ragepaw

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((If you wish to join but wish to create your own clan, PM me with a nice bit of lore and backstory on a new clan that I can implement into the tribe.))

[Geo 1415]

Feedback and questions are 100% welcome.

[Sultan 3953]

Very well done I like this alot.

[Destroyer_Bravo 1054]

(( I saw this yesterday when nobody saw it before, makes me want to have my next character a forest dwarf, actually. ))

[Skippy 2466]

(( I remember when there was only one forest dwarf, and he became an orc. Nice job, I'd love to see the Forest Dwarves return, and a bit of RP racism against them. :] ))

[Cracker 4570]

(

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/forum/index.php?/topic/53928-plight-of-the-forest-dwarf/page__p__414815__fromsearch__1#entry414815

I wrote this a ways back, some of it is accurate some of it is not. Perhaps it can be of some use of redesigning the sub-race.

This looks super interesting and engaging, I hope it turns out well. )

[Geo 1415]

Thank you! This should help me a lot!

[TEEbrown 348]

[beautiful work! I am very interested on how this roleplay can be progressed? Is there a group of forest dwarves rping in a single area?]

[Dun_Irongut 104]

[beautiful work! I am very interested on how this roleplay can be progressed? Is there a group of forest dwarves rping in a single area?]

((A small town of them, if that could be orchestrated, would make for some great RP if set up correctly. Trade with the capital and surrounding regions? Taverns? A grove of Druids? So much that could be done...))

[Geo 1415]

Before I can start addressing some land, I must first have Dwarves that can live in it. If you're interested in this style of roleplay and want to try it out for yourself, send me a PM.

[Hiebe 2493]

The fungal forest would fit you so well.

[Ѻ Mikey Ѻ 24]

The fungal forest would fit you so well.

Where is this? It sounds interesting?

[Hiebe 2493]

Its south of karik in a swamp

[GavinTheViking 151]

[ I would like to see some Forest Dwarves jump through the trees and attack Volvokrim with longbows and war axes, now that would be original and exciting RP. ]

[Dun_Irongut 104]

((The Fungal Forest would be perfect for Forest Dwarves. It's within our land... Perhaps you'll find it RPly and petition for it to be used. :wink: